# Statement of Objects and Reasons
This Ordinance is intended to supplement the law in reference to the inspection and regulation of the Fittings of ships which leave this Colony in ballast, to take up Chinese Emigrants at places out of British jurisdiction. The inspection and regulation of the Fittings of ships intended for the conveyance of Chinese Emigrants to be embarked in this Colony, is amply dealt with by the "Chinese Passengers Act, 1855," as well as by local Ordinances. Section III of Ordinance No. 9 of 1856, provides that any "Chinese Passenger Ship," (that is, a ship "carrying more than 20 passengers being Natives of Asia,") clearing for any port out of the Colony for the purpose of commencing at such port a voyage of more than 7 days' duration, shall be within the "Chinese Passengers Act, 1855;" but the vessels to which the present Ordinance is intended to apply, are those which leave this Colony, without any Chinese Passengers on board, and with the view to the embarkation of Chinese Passengers elsewhere. Such vessels are not "Chinese Passenger Ships," within the meaning of the "Chinese Passengers Act, 1855," and therefore are not subject to its provisions.
The only enactment under which the Fittings of such ships can be regulated is section 27 of the Harbor Ordinance (No. 1 of 1862). That Section is as follows: "Every master of any vessel whatsoever fitting in this harbor for the conveyance of Emigrants whether to be shipped at this or any other port, shall report the same to the Harbor Master under a penalty not exceeding $500, and the Fittings of said vessel shall be subject to approval of such Officer, who is empowered at all reasonable times to go on board and inspect such vessel; and any person who shall in any way impede the Harbor Master in the execution of this duty shall also be liable to a penalty not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars."
Since the passing of the Harbor Ordinance in 1862, further provision has been made by law for compelling vessels coming under the operation of the "Chinese Passengers Act, 1855," to report themselves, (see section 5 of No. 12 of 1868), and the reporting of such vessels, and the inspection and regulation of their Fittings is provided for by the Imperial Act itself.
Therefore section 27 of the Harbor Ordinance is of no utility as respects "Chinese Passenger Ships," and it is found in practice insufficient in its provisions to enable the Authorities to deal satisfactorily with the class of ships to which the new legislation is intended to apply.
Thus under that section the Harbor Master has power to inspect and approve the Fittings of any Chinese Emigrant Ships in this harbor, but that section does not specifically prohibit gratings or barricades, nor does it direct what steps should be taken in case of his not approving of the Fittings of a ship which is not a "Chinese Passenger Ship." He cannot, for instance, detain the vessel's papers, because in the case of every foreign ship they are deposited with the Consul representing its Flag. The practice hitherto has been for coolie ships in this harbor, either to conceal such Fittings in the hold or to send them by junk or otherwise to Macao. The only remedy in the hands of the Harbor Master has been to order the Fittings, when discovered on board, to be at once landed. If the master refused to obey the order he could be summoned under section 10 of the Harbor Ordinance, which provides that "every master of a merchant vessel shall immediately strike spars, clear hawse, or shift berth, or obey any other order which the Harbor Master may think fit to give, and any master wilfully disobeying or neglecting this Regulation shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $200."
It has been doubted whether the words "or obey any other order" are not restricted in their application to matters specified in the preceding sentence, viz.: mooring ship and similar evolutions, and whether they apply at all to the 27th section, which is an isolated enactment about the Fittings of coolie ships, inserted near the end of the Ordinance, and under which the Harbor Master is not expressly empowered to give any order. But assuming they do apply, there is no provision which prohibits the carriage of the objectionable Fittings in a junk or other vessel to Macao, which is only 42 miles distant from this Colony.
The proposed Ordinance, therefore, repeals section 27 of the Harbor Ordinance and substitutes much more stringent regulations, which will among other things put a stop to the practice of exporting for the Macao Coolie Trade, gratings, barricades, and other objectionable Fittings manufactured by carpenters and artisans in this Colony.
JULIAN PAUNCEFOTE, Attorney General.
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